


Fireworks

by Lidupo



Category: Doki Doki Literature Club! (Visual Novel)
Genre: Bodyswap, F/F, F/M, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Self-Harm, Suicide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-27
Updated: 2018-05-09
Packaged: 2019-04-28 10:10:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,922
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14447031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lidupo/pseuds/Lidupo
Summary: “Hey! Shuji, wait up!”A slightly startled Shuji turned around to face Sayori, the girl who had been calling his name. The two had been friends since childhood, and loved each other like siblings......Or maybe they loved each other in a different kind of way.Note: Discontinued until further notice!!





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> An AU idea I've been playing around with... so I wrote a short first chapter for it. I'll try to continue it, but we'll have to see.
> 
> I really wanted to give the protagonist (called Shuji in my story) more backstory and personality, so that's what I'm trying to do with this. Anyway, if you spot any grammar mistakes I'd love to know so I can fix it!

                “Hey! Shuji, wait up!”

                A slightly startled Shuji turned around to face Sayori, the girl who had been calling his name. She was running in an effort to catch up with Shuji. When she finally caught up with her best friend, she bent over in an effort to catch her breath. In her distracted state, her backpack nearly slipped off her shoulders. Shuji leaned over to put it back where it belonged.

                “I thought I had missed you for a second there,” Sayori panted. She reached over to straighten her shoulder strap, but accidently grabbed Shuji’s hand.

                For a moment, both friends froze. When Shuji and Sayori were in elementary school, they’d hold hands and give out hugs without blinking an eye. But as they’d grown older, they’d begun to drift apart, and even as small of a touch as this caused Sayori and Shuji to freeze up.

                “S-sorry,” Sayori pulls her hand away.

                Shuji shakes his head, “No, no, its fine. Are you alright? You took quite a sprint back there” He decided to change the subject.

                “I’m f-…” Sayori trailed off. She swallowed as she glanced away from Shuji’s face, seeming to be thinking about her answer.

                “Sayori…?” Shuji probed tentatively. Ever since Shuji had joined Sayori’s Literature Club a few days ago, which she was the vice-president of, Sayori seemed to be having more moments like these. Where she drifted out of a conversation, or got lost in thought, and Shuji wasn’t sure if he should be worried. After all, it had been quite a while since Sayori and Shuji had hung out for longer periods of time, maybe this was just a quirk she’d developed?

                “Uh, I’m fine! Don’t you worry about a thing!” Sayori flashed Shuji one of her winning smiles.

                “If you say so,” Shuji tried not to sound too concerned, “remember, the festival’s today! Got to be on our best behavior today, so we can drag in some new members!”

                Sayori gave Shuji a thumb up. “Sounds good, Captain Shuji! Anyway, I’ve got to go. Monika wanted me at school early so that I could help set up decorations.”

                “Alright,” Shuji nodded, “see you at the festival, Sayori. Bye!”

                As she ran off, Sayori turned around to wave. In the process of doing so, she nearly tripped over a second-year student that Shuji recognized from the school’s soccer team. Shuji watched as Sayori stumbled over herself to apologize before taking off again in the direction of the school. He couldn’t help but chuckle as she faded into the distance. Gripping his backpack tightly, Shuji decided that he’d better head to his class before it started without him.

                On that note, Shuji walked into the school, ready to start the day.

 

* * *

 

 

                There was no literature club on the day of the festival, so Shuji walked home without Sayori. He had waited for a while, but when she hadn’t stepped out of the school to join him, he had given up and set off on his own.

                When Shoji finally got back home, he saw a note scribbled in his mother’s messy handwriting stuck to the fridge with a magnet. It read:

Shoji- pizza in fridge, heat up if you’re hungry. Will be home by 11. Do homework, go to bed!

                Figures. Ever since Shuji’s parents had gotten divorced, his mom was almost never home. He could probably throw a party and she wouldn’t notice. Fortunately for her, Shuji wasn’t exactly the party-throwing type. This seemed like one of her better days, since she bothered to leave a note. And pizza. Pizza was new, she hadn’t left food in a while.

                _Oh God,_ Shuji thought, _I’m pathetic._ Getting hopeful over a limp slice of pizza. Shuji sighed and opened the fridge, grabbing the only piece of food in it, the pizza slice, before closing the door to its original position once more. He’d have to go shopping again soon, Shuji realized.

                He shoved the thought from his mind. Right now, he just needed to worry about going to sleep, and getting through tomorrow. Later, preferably this weekend, he’d go shopping. Until then, Shoji supposed he’d have to starve. Or live off a vending machine. Both options sounded equally unpleasant to Shuji, who’d rather starve than eat whatever hormones and preservatives were stuffed into those bags of death snacks.

                Muttering something about the importance of nutrition under his breath, Shuji clambered into his bed. His last thought before going to sleep was how much he was looking forward to seeing Sayori again.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The club is up to seven members! Who could the mysterious new members be?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will try to update more quickly from here on out. Had a lot of fun writing this.

Morning sunlight streamed through Shuji’s bedroom window. Shuji sat up and stretched. Yawning, he slowly crawled out of bed and threw a sideways glance at his alarm clock.

9:03 A.M.

                Shuji stared at the alarm in a daze, a morning daze still restricting his senses. When his brain finally processed the time, he jumped a foot in the air. In a panic, Shuji searched wildly around the room for a school uniform he should have put out yesterday. It was only until after all of the clothes he’d owned since he was twelve (Shuji never really bothered to move his old clothes out) were strewn across the floor did he realize he’d left his uniform in the washing machine with his other old laundry. He rushed into his laundry room and slipped on a still soggy uniform, slivering slightly at the unpleasant feeling of the wet cloth brushing against his skin.

                He ran to the fridge and pulled it open, hoping to grab something to eat before heading to school. Nothing was in it except for a cold, half-eaten pizza slice. Shuji stared at it for a moment before deciding he had no time to complain, since he’d put off shopping himself, after all. Grabbing the pizza slice and his backpack, Shuji ran out of the door at what felt like the speed of light.

                In his panic, he nearly runs right into Sayori.

                Right before he crashes into her, Shuji skids to a stop. Sayori turns around and smiles at Shuji.

“Hey, Shuji! What’s up?”

                “I, umm…” Shuji stared at Sayori, “I’m late.”

                Not missing a beat, Sayori links her arm around Shuji’s, and starts off towards the direction of the school. Shuji tries to pull away, startled by the sudden physical contact. Just yesterday they had shied away from holding hands, what had changed in the last twenty-four hours?

                “Were you just standing there, waiting for me to get up?” Shuji asked.

                “No, no!” Sayori laughed. Shuji realized how long it had been since he’d heard that laugh… and how many butterflies it let loose in Shuji’s stomach. “In all honesty, I just woke up, too. I’m glad I ran into you, though!”

                “Ha… ha, yeah,” Shuji fans his face, hoping Sayori won’t be able to see how red it’s gotten.

                “Are you alright there, Shuji?” Sayori frowns, “You’re looking a little flushed. Do you have a cold?”

                Shuji shook his head violently, embarrassed that Sayori had noticed, “I’m fine. I feel fine.”

                Sayori nodded, “If you say so. Oh, I’m pretty sure your shoes aren’t school dress code regulated.”

                Glancing down at his feet, Shuji could see that his shoes were indeed not school dress code regulated. Instead of the sleek black shoes he could’ve sworn he had put on before he had walked out the door, he was wearing an old pair of sneakers, which were strictly for out of school, casual occasions.

                “Oh, man,” Shuji groaned, “I should go back…”

                “Don’t worry, there’s no need. I have an extra pair of shoes in my backpack,” Sayori held out a pair of shoes that had seemed to appear out of thin air.

                Startled, Shuji took the shoes and slipped them on as quickly as he could.

                “I thought I was supposed to be the responsible one,” he murmured.

                Now Sayori looked a little pale, “You flatter me! I really just had those laying around. My parents got them for me in case I lost this pair.” Sayori pointed down to her own pair of shoes.

                “Anyway,” Sayori continued, “I think you’re perfect. So, don’t beat yourself up about it, alright?”

                The school was coming into view, and getting larger, in the distance. Shuji untangled his arm from Sayori’s and shouldered his backpack.

                “Don’t worry,” Shuji assured Sayori, “I won’t.”

 

* * *

 

 

                When school ends, Shuji makes his way towards the classroom where the literature club is held each evening. Stepping inside, he sees that Sayori was the first person to arrive. That was pretty unusual, since normally Monika was the first to show up.

                “You’re early,” Shuji noted as he dropped his stuff into an empty desk. Sayori looks confused for a moment.

                “Well, it’s my club, isn’t it?”

                “It’s Monika’s club,” Shuji corrected Sayori.

                For a split second, Sayori looked mortified. She quickly recomposes herself, smiling brightly as she was this morning.

                “Just because I’m only the vice-president doesn’t mean I can’t dream, Shuji,” Sayori pouts.

                “Anyway,” Sayori changed the subject, “are you ready to meet our new members?”

                “New… members?”” Shuji didn’t remember getting any new members. When did this happen?

                “Did nobody tell you?” Sayori frowned, “Two people were interested in our club, so they’re checking it out today. So be on your best behavior - oh, look!” Sayori pointed to the door, hands clasped in excitement.

                Natsuki, in all her pink fury, walked into the club room, dragging Yuri and two other completely unfamiliar figures in tow-

                Wait.

                “It’s you!” Shuji yelped.

                The girl who Shuji was pointing at froze in place, obviously startled. She was only slightly taller than Natsuki, with two vibrant green braids laid out across her back, complimenting her darker green eyes. Her uniform jacket was open, revealing the sweater vest that was also mandatory for the school uniform. They and the rest of her clothes were rumpled up, like she had just gotten back from an outdoor sport, which would have made a lot of sense since the girl in question was part of the school’s very own soccer team. Shuji recognized her because it was the same girl Sayori had tripped over on her way inside the school yesterday.

                “M- me?” the girl stuttered.

                Realizing just how badly he’d scared the girl, Shuji began to apologize, “Sorry, sorry… I just recognized you from yesterday, and, uh… Sayori, you recognize her, don’t you?” Shuji sent Sayori a pleading glance.

                “Um…” from the blank look on Sayori’s face, Shuji could tell she didn’t remember the encounter at all. “Yes! Sure!”

                For a long, long, moment an awkward silence hung thick over the air. Shuji could feel his face growing red with embarrassment, and prayed for somebody, something to end his misery.

                Surprisingly, Yuri answered his pleas, “Well, m-maybe we should introduce ourselves! I’m Yuri, and I’m very happy you decided to jump into the amazing world of literature!”

                Yuri’s nervous smile faded into a look of somebody who was about to have a nervous breakdown. “Oh, god, we didn’t force you into this, did we? What were we thinking? I’m so, so sorry, I didn’t mean anything rude, you- you can leave if you want.”

                Before Yuri could continue her rant, Natsuki cut in, “Quit it, Yuri! You’re gonna scare them away before they can even give this club a shot!” Natsuki rolled her eyes before turning to the new members. “I’m Natskui, by the way. Just ignore her, she worries too much.”

                “N- no I don’t…” Yuri murmured softly.

                Realizing it was his turn to introduce himself, Shuji spoke up, “My name is Shuji. This is my best friend, Sayori. She’s the club’s vice-president.”

                Sayori gave the new members a little wave.

                “My name is Hanami,” the girl in green, from the soccer team introduced herself next.

                Last was the other new member, who Shuji didn’t recognize. She was taller than even Yuri, but only by a few inches, not including the tips of her spiked red hair. Even though she was wearing a pair of earbuds, she seemed to realize that she was being called upon to announce her name. Slipping her earbuds into her pocket while simultaneously brushing her low hanging bangs out of her face, revealing grey eyes, the girl cleared her throat.

                “Asami,” she said simply. For the buildup, it was rather anticlimactic.

                “Great!” Sayori grinned, “Now that we’re done introductions, why don’t we-“

                The door to the classroom slid open, almost without a sound, but the literature club president’s footsteps gave away that somebody was at the door.

                “Oh,” Sayori’s grin slid off her face.

                “Monika.”

                “You’re late.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I by no means want to make this some OC insert, but I thought up these characters a while ago and really love them. Just there to fill up space, mostly. ANYWAY, the lady of honor finally makes her first appearance!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first club meeting since the festival commences!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I told you I'd update more quickly! So, a few announcements:  
> -I will no longer by indenting, because outside of the word document I draft this on it's annoying to look at.  
> -Will probably be going back and editing a few chapters because this is my first fic on this site, so I'm super new to the formatting and will probably need to go back and change some things as I learn.  
> -The Sayori/protag/Monika in the tags doesn't mean they'll be in a poly relationship, just that they're a love triangle. Sorry if I disappointed anybody.  
> -Yuri/Natsuki does mean that they are in a romantic relationship, but since it isn't the most important part of the plot, it won't be included a lot.

Standing timidly by the door, Monika looked rather small. Shuji was used to seeing Monika standing tall, with an air or authority humming around her. When Monika talked, you listened. Right now, though, Monika looked like she was ready to sprint away at them slightest movement.

“How could we forget about you?”

Shuji turned around and frowned. Every muscle in Sayori’s body seemed to have stiffened, and her smile looked rather forced. Had something happened between Sayori and Monika?

“Asami, Hanami, this is Monika. The club president,” Sayori said dryly.

Nodding in acknowledgment, Monika hurried inside and stood awkwardly next to Yuri, the closest to the door. Shuji tried to meet the girl’s eyes, but Monika had taken great interest in the wooden floor, so his attempts, unfortunately, failed.

“Alright, everybody! Let’s begin the club session! Natsuki, you can take Asami and show her how we roll. Yuri, you can do the same for Hanami,” Sayori officially began the club session. Natsuki looked mildly horrified at the aspect of having to teach the giant Asami the ropes of the literature club, and Yuri looked no less pleased to have to babysit Hanami.

“Would you like to read with me, Shuji?” a hand made contact with Shuji’s shoulder. Turning around slightly, Shuji could see Sayori smiling gently at him. After the weirdness of today, reading with Sayori seemed to be the perfect downtime.

“God, yes,” Shuji gave a relieved sigh.

He didn’t notice Monika staring at the pair from across the room.

 

* * *

 

 

He wasn’t entirely sure when it happened, but at some point Asami had found herself a corner of the room to stare at her phone in and Hanami had sprawled out across two desk chairs, reading a sports magazine, of all things. Natsuki and Yuri were cuddling by the wall, reding a book Shuji recognized as the Portrait of Markov. Shuji was sure Yuri had read and reread that book over a million times and had even lent it to him once. The book was freakishly creepy, starring a high-school girl trying to escape some weird human experiments gone wrong. Nothing ever seems to go right for the main character, and she ends up going a little insane. Weirdly, Yuri seems to relate to the character a lot, which Shuji sure said something about her mental health. He knew that Portrait of Markov was something Natsuki would never read on her own, but she seemed willing to suck it up if Yuri was there to guide her through it.

Yesterday, Shuji had seen the two reading Parfait Girls together. Shuji wasn’t used to seeing the two girls get along so well, since they had spent almost the entire first week of Shuji’s time in the literature club arguing. It was a strange and sudden change, but Shuji was glad nonetheless. Now that Sayori seemed to be feeling better than previous days, maybe things would be alright. Well, if he could figure out what was going on with Monika, maybe.

Speaking of which, Shuji couldn’t spot the girl in question anywhere in the room. He wasn’t sure why that made him worried, but it did. Sighing, Shuji stood up, startling Sayori, who he’d been reading a light novel that she’d picked out, called Blue Screen. Supposedly, it was a sci-fi novel, but the book appeared to be set in present time. Shuji was calling time travel. Sayori had guessed aliens, but they hadn’t gotten far enough into the book to find out yet.

“What’s wrong?” Sayori asked.

“Nothing,” Shuji stated, “I just need to use the restroom.”

“Want me to come with you?” Sayori inquired.

Raising an eyebrow, Shuji shook his head. “No thanks. I can handle my own, thank you very much.”

Turning a nice shade of red, Sayori laughed nervously, “Sorry, sorry! That’s not what I meant. Go ahead, I’ll wait here.”

“Don’t continue without me!” Shuji called back before leaving the room.

Now to find Monika.

How much time did he have before people got suspicious? Probably about five minutes, Shuji figured. Hoping that Monika hadn’t decided to head home early, Shuji begins his trek through the hallways. If all went well, Shuji would be back, with Monika, before anybody noticed he was gone.

Turning a corner, Shuji spotted a vending machine. Remembering his aching stomach, Shuji reached into his pocket and pulled out enough coins to get him and Sayori a quick snack. Putting in which treats he wanted to get and injecting his coin, Shuji waited patiently for his goodies to fall into his hands.

By the time he was finished, Shuji was holding two cream filled mini-pastries, one chocolate and the other strawberry. The strawberry was for Sayori, and the chocolate he would save for himself. He really needed to go grocery shopping tonight…

Shuji was about to head off once more to find Monika, uncomfortably aware of how much time he’d lost, when he stepped on something soft, definitely not the floor’s tile hallways. His suspicions were confirmed when he heard a small yelp of pain.

Turning around, Shuji saw Monika, tucked against the vending machine, cradling her near-broken fingers that Shuji had just trampled on. She had been so silent that Shuji hadn’t even noticed her. Even though, her eyes were red and puffy, so Shuji was pretty sure she’d been crying.

“Oh my god! Monika! Are you alright?” Shuji immediately dropped down and reached out to Monika. In response, Monika just shrunk farther into the vending machine, obviously trying to get as far away from Shuji as she possibly could. Immediately feeling like a huge jerk, Shuji took a step back.

“Sorry,” he murmured.

Monika gave a weak smile, “You’re… you’re alright. I shouldn’t even be sitting on the floor like this, anyway.”

“Are you okay?”  Shuji asked tentatively.

The only response Shuji got was a stiff shrug. Shuji had never seen Monika like this before, and he wasn’t exactly sure how to handle. He remembered comforting Sayori whenever she was having a bad day, so he decided to go that route. Sitting down next to Monika, Shuji spoke.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Shuji tried again.

Again, his attempt was met with silence. Looking down at the pastries in his hand, and back at the vending machine, Shuji figured the least he could do was offer Monika one of his treats… hopefully, she’d pick the chocolate one, so he’d still be able to give Sayori her favorite flavor. Monika seemed like the mature kind of girl who’d pick chocolate over strawberry, so maybe Shuji wouldn’t have to worry too much.

“Which flavor?” Shuji held out the pastries for Monika to see. After a moment of silence, Monika pointed to the strawberry one.

Great.

He reluctantly handed the item Monika had asked for to her, trying not to make his disappointment too evident. Thankfully, Monika seemed too focused in her food to notice Shuji. When Monika was about halfway through her pastry, Shuji decided to try one more time to see if Monika would open up to her.

“Are you and Sayori getting along alright?” Shuji guessed.

When Monika’s blue eyes flashed with anger, Shuji knew he’d hit his mark. Monika tensed in rage, took a deep breath, and then let her limbs unwind.

“I don’t know,” Monika finally said, “I just feel like… I thought I knew where I was. Who I was, but now I feel like I can’t figure out anything out at all. Like the world’s collapsed on top of me. It’s like, I come to school, and people try to talk to me, but I don’t even know who _they_ are. Sayori and I… we, uh, had a disagreement, and now I’m stuck, you know?” Monika gave Shuji a pleading look.

Shuji nodded, “Yeah. I know life can feel tough sometimes, but I promise it’ll get better. You just got to stick it out, Monika. I know you can do it.”

Maybe he had said something wrong, because Monika’s shoulders seemed to sag in disappointment. She turned her gave from Shuji to stare down the hallway.

It wasn’t until now that Shuji had realized how eerily alone they were. Sunlight streamed through the windows, which was the only lighting in the hallway. Underneath his feet, the tile floor was cold and hard, seeping the warmth from his body. Monika, arguably the most popular girl in school, organized and cool, was sitting right next to him, having an emotional breakdown. Only a week ago, he would have laughed if somebody had told him this was how he would be spending his after-school hours.

Suddenly, Monika stood up. “I should go. Thanks for the food.”

“O- oh, okay,” Shuji was startled by Monika’s sudden movement.

He was barely able to whisper a goodbye before Monika rushed out of the hallway. Shaking off the encounter, Shuji decided that he’d better head back to the club. He had already wasted enough time.

When he got back to the club, he found that everybody was beginning to pack up. Apparently, while he was gone, Hanami and Asami had both confirmed that they’d be heading back down tomorrow to rejoin the literature club activities, Yuri and Natsuki had gotten into an argument over the symbolic meaning of the line _“Glass cuts covered her feet, the sky a painful shade of crimson red_ ”, and Sayori had read the next chapter of Blue Screen. Without him. Shuji had only surrendered the chocolate treat he’d gotten when Sayori had apologized three times and promised to reread it with him tomorrow. Sayori generously decided to split the treat with Shuji, giving him the larger half.

“Alright, everybody!” Sayori clasped her hands behind her back, “Since Asami and Hanami don’t have poems to share, save the ones you wrote today for tomorrow! Then, we’ll all be able to read them together!”

Asami and Hanami had both been informed about the literature club’s poem-writing, so they both only nodded in response.

“Then let this club session officially end,” Sayori said solemnly.

As the club members went their separate ways, Sayori walked towards Shuji. “Want to walk home with me?”

Tempting, but Shuji had to shake his head, “I’m heading to the store. Need to stalk up on some items.”

“Then I’ll come with you,” Sayori immediately tried to come up with an explanation when Shuji gave her a puzzled look, “Don’t think you’re the only one who needs to go shopping, silly! I’ve been putting it off for a while now, and you just gave me the perfect excuse to go.”

Questions answered, Shuji let his mind rest. Finding out what was bothering Monika could wait for another day, because right now, he was going to spend time with his best friend in the whole world.

As long as he was with Sayor **iiii i   i iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii hiiii ii** knew everything was going to be okay.


End file.
